


Solidarity

by untokki



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dialogue Heavy, Dogs, Drabble, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25695535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untokki/pseuds/untokki
Summary: Tenzo's locked out of his apartment, but at least he's not the only one who has to experience such dread.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	Solidarity

Tenzo let his forehead fall against the front door to his apartment, a groan riding on his lips as he patted each pocket on his jeans, and searched through his denim jacket. His book bag had already been emptied and thoroughly checked twice, and yet, he still couldn’t find his house keys. Out of his few acquaintances, none of them had a spare key, and that spare key was hanging on the key rack right beyond that locked door. He finally decided to just call the landlord and tell him of his troubles, and after being told to wait for a locksmith, Tenzo found himself sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. After a long day of work, he wished he could be napping in bed rather than against the walls of his apartment. It wasn’t like he actually could nap in a situation like that, especially when he could hear multiple footsteps trailing up the stairs to his floor. When he lifted his head, he was met with a group of dogs, all leading a silver-haired man to a door across the hall and two doors down from Tenzo’s. 

The dogs were all well-trained, and from what Tenzo could see, there were four of them. They were all medium-sized hounds, with the exception of a pug who had already laid down in the hallway. Their owner was searching through the pockets of his sweatpants while keeping all four leashes in one of his hands. Even though the man wore a black mask over his mouth, Tenzo could tell the absolute dread the man was experiencing, considering he just went through that grief as well. 

“You locked yourself out too?” Tenzo spoke up, causing all four dogs and their messy-haired owner to look his way. 

The man let out a little laugh, scratching the back of his head with his free hand and closing his eyes in a smile. “I guess I did,” he replied. “Little hectic to remember everything when you’ve got these guys,” he motioned to the pets with his chin. 

“I can’t even imagine having four dogs. You’ve got your work cut out for you,” Tenzo said, standing up with his hands in his jean pockets. The dogs seemed interested in his movements.

“Actually, there’s four more inside,” the man said. He was sheepish in the way he answered, like he didn’t want Tenzo to judge him for that fact. 

“Oh, so you really need to get back inside,” Tenzo said. Eight dogs was a lot of commitment. Tenzo could never imagine having that many pets, but he was sure some people would find the number of plants in his home to be crazy, too. 

“I would call my friend since she has my extra key, but she’s at work right now, so I guess I’m stuck out here,” the man stepped forward, making sure not to tangle himself in the leashes, and reached out his hand. “I’m Kakashi.”

“Tenzo,” the brunet said, shaking his hand with a little smile.

“You look like an indie musician, or something,” Kakashi commented, looking Tenzo up and down and taking in his denim jacket, buttoned shirt and straight cut black jeans. “Coming home from work?”

The look Kakashi gave him made the brunet man heat up under the collar and he laughed nervously to dissuade any tension he may have brought on. “I’m a professor,” Tenzo replied. “At the community college.”

“Oh, yeah? What do you teach?”

“Architectural design.”

“Huh. Okay.”

“And what about you?”

Kakashi gestured to his dogs. “This is my job.”

“A dog walker?”

Kakashi laughed in earnest at that and shook his head, making his spikes of silver bounce a bit. “I train therapy dogs. These guys are all mine, but most of them will be going to a new owner who needs the help someday.” Kakashi then squatted down and pet the head of the miniature pug, who was still laying on his stomach. “Except for Pakkun, he’s been with me forever.”

“That’s a rather noble cause,” Tenzo smiled at him. That’s why the dogs were so attentive to him, he supposed. 

“When I’m not training them, though, I work at a bookstore. A little less fun, but it gets me through life, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course,” Tenzo nodded his head. He glanced at his watch discreetly, as to make sure Kakashi didn’t think he was getting bored of their conversation. After he told the dogs to all sit, he looked back over at Tenzo, who was leaning against the wall once again. 

“Are you waiting for someone to get your keys?” Kakashi questioned.

“I’m waiting for the locksmith. Who knows how long that’ll be,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s fine, though. It’s not like I have anyone waiting on the other side.”

“My friend’s off work in thirty minutes or so, if you want to wait in my apartment when I finally get back in it.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Tenzo shook his head.

“Hey, it’s no big deal. It’s getting late, and my dogs love meeting new people. I don’t mind.”

  
  


The girl that had come to Kakashi’s rescue was a brunette that was a good bit shorter than the both of them, a black apron crumbled and thrown over her arm and a condescending look thrown Kakashi’s way as she unlocked the door. “Thank you, my knight in shining armor,” Kakashi joked, letting go of the leashes so the dogs could walk themselves inside. 

“You’re so scatterbrained recently, Kakashi,” she said, crossing her arms and holding her apron to her chest. Then, she looked towards Tenzo, who had retreated to leaning against the wall again rather than interrupting their conversation. “Are you locked out too?” she asked him, big brown eyes staring.

Tenzo sputtered at the question, considering how she treated Kakashi for the same mishap. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m waiting for the locksmith now.”

The girl turned back to look at Kakashi. “You better have invited him in.”

Kakashi looked incredibly offended by that. “I did,” he grumbled. He held open the door, and as the brunette walked inside, Kakashi waved his hand to get Tenzo’s attention.

When the shorter man came closer, he gave Kakashi a little smile. “She seems nice,” he said.

Kakashi, exasperated, just motioned for the man to go inside before he closed the door behind him. The apartment was clean, with a few misplaced pillows around the sofa and a couple of empty water bottles lining the coffee table. There were two dog beds in the living room, one of them housing a large black bulldog, while the other stayed empty. It was sad to say, but Tenzo didn’t get much sense of a personality with the main room of the apartment, with the muted colors and less than stellar interior design. At the very least, it seemed Kakashi had lived there for quite awhile, and he wondered if the landlord knew about the teeth marks on the corners of some of the walls. “Would you look at that,” Kakashi started as he sat down on the couch, leaning forward to pick something up off the coffee table. He held his previously lost keys up for Tenzo to see, his eyes creasing in a smile.

“It’s the third time I’ve had to come save his ass,” the girl commented as she came from where Tenzo assumed the kitchen was, if Kakashi’s apartment was set up anything like his own. She sat next to Kakashi on the couch and gave Tenzo a smile. “I’m Rin, by the way.”

“Tenzo,” he answered. He looked around for a moment, seeing no other place to sit than on the other side of Kakashi. He tried his best not to look awkward as he waited for an offer to sit, and it paid off when Kakashi patted the couch cushion next to him. He gladly accepted, and when he sat down, he noticed Pakkun was sleeping under the coffee table. “These apartments are small. How have I only seen two of your dogs?”

Kakashi laughed lightly. “They all have their little designated places, it seems. Pakkun goes wherever I go, but the rest of them pretty much keep to themselves.” He then pointed towards the kitchen. “Like how Biscuit’s always sleeping on the kitchen floor. He likes to think it gets him more food.”

An annoyed sigh came from the other side of the couch, and Rin stood up with her attention on her cell phone. “Obito locked himself out, too. Are you kidding me?” She looked at Kakashi with a large frown. “I either need new friends, or you and Obito need new ones.”

Kakashi clasped a hand over Tenzo’s shoulder, startling the brunet man. “I’ve just made a new one. Go save your idiot.”

Rin mumbled something and ruffled Kakashi’s silver locks before making her way to the door. She turned to look at Tenzo before opening the door. “Nice to meet you, Tenzo. Sorry you have to deal with this guy.”

Tenzo laughed, hoping that was the right reaction, and waved as the girl left. When he turned his attention back to the other, Kakashi was leaning against the couch with his arms resting behind his head. “How long until the locksmith comes?”

Ah. Kakashi probably wanted him gone as soon as possible. “They said three hours, at the minimum. Apparently it’s hard to get a locksmith to come out here at seven p.m.”

Kakashi hummed, and then a gray dog hopped up next to him on the sofa.

“It’s fine, though. I’ll head out now. I’ll probably pick up dinner or something, and then hopefully they’ll be here.”

“We can get dinner together,” Kakashi said, like it was a normal thing for people who just met each other to do. He was petting the dogs head and not looking at Tenzo. 

Tenzo was positive that if he tried to decline again, Kakashi would just keep on insisting. So, instead, he put on a smile and nodded his head in agreement. 

  
  


Tenzo was not one who often went out with friends. When his colleagues from work asked if he wanted to go drinking or get dinner, or a number of other activities, the man always found himself declining. He wasn’t the best at keeping a conversation going, nor did he  _ really _ enjoy spending his nights with people he only really ever spoke to in passing. Kakashi, from what he gathered, was most likely the opposite. Judging by the fact that Rin was ready to save him with a spare house key, Tenzo could tell the man was a little more socially inept than he was, and that made sitting across from him at a restaurant booth all the more intimidating. “You look like a lost puppy,” Kakashi commented, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. 

Tenzo blinked. “Sorry. Just lost in thought, I suppose.”

“You said you work at the college, right? You know someone named Guy there?” Kakashi asked.

It was rare for someone at the college to  _ not _ have heard about Might Guy, for both teachers and students. The man had a presence that was unlike anyone else, and his humanities courses were typically filled before most got the chance to even consider being in his class. Tenzo had also been in his friendly chokehold more times than he could count. He laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I do. What about him?”

“He’s quite the character, right? I’ve known him forever. We’re good friends,” Kakashi explained, reaching for his glass of water. He pinched the bridge of his fabric mask and pulled it down around his chin, and took a sip. Tenzo was completely caught off guard by that. He didn’t dare ask Kakashi why he wore that mask, and he also didn’t admit that the face it covered was all too pretty to be covered. When Kakashi put the glass down, Tenzo’s eyes focused on the beauty mark below his lips. “Like what you see?” Kakashi smirked, pulling the mask back up to his nose. “So what’s this architectural design? Is it any different from just architecture,” he then said, completely changing the subject and making Tenzo’s head spin just a little. 

“They go hand-in-hand,” Tenzo said after a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. “It deals with the odds and ends of architecture. Architecture isn’t just about designing a building that looks good, it’s about the plan before you build and the safety measures.”

“So it’s a fancier term for architecture,” Kakashi nodded slowly. “I get it.”

Tenzo narrowed his eyes, but couldn’t help the little upturn of his lips. “Well, tell me about your job, then.”

“What about it?”

“Why you do it. What it entails. You know.”

Kakashi rubbed his chin and looked towards the ceiling in thought. “Therapy dogs are meant to help people who are disabled in some capacity. Some of them are seeing-eye dogs, others help people in wheelchairs. A lot of them are emotional support animals. That’s what Pakkun is to me. After my dad killed himself, I got Pakkun, and the rest was history.”

Tenzo felt his shoulders tense a little when he realized what Kakashi had said. He looked at the man with furrowed eyebrows, but he didn’t seem remotely bothered by his own words. “You said that so nonchalantly.”

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. Tenzo wasn’t sure if it was just because he couldn’t see the bottom half of his face, or if Kakashi really just didn’t emote often. “I’ve moved past it. It’s been twenty-five years, anyway. I’ve had my time to mourn.”

Tenzo tapped his finger against the tabletop. “Well, if we’re going to get that personal…”

Kakashi waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t tell me anything you wouldn’t tell your students.”

That comment made Tenzo a little speechless, but he smiled all the same. “It’s less of me telling my students and more of them trying to pull any information out of me that they can.”

“And do you tell them what they want to hear?”

“Depends on what they’re asking,” Tenzo replied. “They love to ask about my love life.”

“Okay. So tell me about that.”

Tenzo felt his face grow hot, and he just hoped his embarrassment wasn’t too evident. “Actually, there’s not much to talk about in that regard.”

“Ah,” Kakashi nodded, then put out his hand. Tenzo eyed him strangely. “Solidarity. I think you would agree that it’s about time people mind their own business, right?”

At that, Tenzo smiled, and shook his hand over the table. “Right.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this mindless little drabble, based on the prompt "you locked yourself out too?"
> 
> send me prompts or requests on [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/yamakaka)


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